Responses to this thread have been heavily slanted in favor of Ms. Garten rather than the boy; this has surprised me greatly, as it does not seem like the charitable Chowhound profile I have come to know. Attacks have been made both on a young boy undergoing serious medical problems, as well as on his mother. Surprising, alarming, and oh, so unattractive. I doubt if Ms. Garten is so swamped with requests that she could not have done something. And this is where we who are appalled at many of the responses part way with those who have come out as pitbulls attacking anyone who feels that Ms. Garten let the boy down. I ran businesses that required me to show up for all sorts of things not directly connected with my primary responsibilities. Many of these things were charitable, others were things like funerals for people I didn't know, but where my presence would be meaningful to the family. Hell, I went to all manners of charitable things because, in my position at the time, I could influence others to also give. I made one prior comment, this is my last, I like Ms. Garten and think she has a fine tv show, but I am disappointed in her behavior and even more so in that of her followers.

The 4-year old son of a cousin's cousin, also has a disease that has caused him to spend long periods of time in bed and sitting, is a huge fan of Rachel Ray's. He just adores Ms. Ray and knows exactly when her shows come on. His mom doesn't know why he loves Ms. Ray but is glad he has a "pal" on tv.

I believe that if you were to look at the numbers, few celebrities reject Make a Wish requests. The plight of children with serious illness seems to give a sufficient tug on pretty much everyone's heart strings to honor such requests. The 100 requests would surely largely be perfunctory and not of this significance.

Hey, whoever wrote the silly statement at the top, above, is all wet, and probably got their information from an old Encyclopedia Britannica. A semla and a fastlagssemla or bulle are all one and the same, denoting time and regional differences for the very same delectable pastry created annually for lent, all over Sweden. The "bread" part of a semla is the same used for, say, cinnamon buns, and simply turned into a large round bun. After baking the ban is eviscerted, that is, a thin cap is cut off the top and much of the bun's innards are pulled out and mixed with a bit of sugar, heavy cream and almond paste. This is then stuffed back into the bun and topped with a generous amount of whipped cream. Finally the thin top (often cut as a triangle) is placed on top and a bit of powdered sugar dusted over the whole. Ahhhh, delicious!!!!

Green is simply traditional. If it isn't green (or, rarely, pink) it's not princess cake. Now, what is far more important is that the cake part of princess cake is a European sponge, nothing like the American yellow cake, nor like its pound cake, but rather a light and moist cake tasting authentically of eggs and other good ingredients. The whipped cream between the layers must be real whipped cream, flavored with the best vanilla essence, and the filling must be first quality fresh or top quality raspberries or strawberries. I have so rarely been served American cakes that were made entirely from "scratch" that I find it hard to compare this one.